Method of packing nested paper cups



Feb. 27, 1934.

R. c. FENNER METI'IOD OF PACKING NEST-ED PAPER CUPS F'i'led Jan. 2. 19 s1 Poleri"dl7enn en Patented Feb. 27, 1934,

PATENT OFFICE 1,948,751 4 METHOD or PACKING NESTED PAPER curs Robert C. Fenner, Evanston, 11]., assignor to Vortex Cup Company; Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application January 2, 1931. 'SerialNo. 506,172

' 3 Claims. (01. 93-2) The present invention relates to a method of packing nested paper cups and more particularly to a method of packing paper cups of the Ovalcone type in a carton of rectangular or square cross section.

My present invention is especially adapted for the packing of ovalcone cups of the creased type such as that disclosed in the copending patent application of Cesare Barbieri, Serial No. 412,695 iiled December 9, 1929, but it is of course understood that the invention may be used'with equal advantage in the packing of any paper cup having a mouth of oval cross section or shape.

Heretofore in the packing of cups of the ovalcone type in cartons it has been necessary to distort the cups in order to force them into a carton of minimum size. For example, if the carton used is of square cross section the cups would be distorted from an oval shape to a circular shape so as to fit them tightly in the carton. This distorting of the cups usually required an additional handling operation, and needless to say had the detrimental effect of deforming the cups to such an extent that the cups when used would no longer have the desired oval shape. An object of this invention is to provide a method of packing cups of the ovalcone type whereby they can be discharged directly from the cup forming machine into the carton without any necessity of their being distorted or squeezed into the carton. I

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel method of packing paper cups of the oval-v sists in ejecting the cups from the cup-forming machine one by one directly into the carton one within the other in nested relationship in such a manner that the cups extend diagonally between diagonally opposite corners of the carton thereby eliminating any necessity of distorting the cups to pack them in the carton.

Another feature of the invention has to do with the packing of ovalcone cups of the creased type in a carton in such a manner that the creases of the cup are positioned in diagonally opposite corners of the carton.

Other objects and features of this invention will more fully appear from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing which illustrates a single embodiment thereof, and in which Figure 1 is a perspective'view of a carton in a knock-down state and prior to its being assembled into a set form and showing nested ovalcone cups disposed therein and extending diagonally between diagonally opposite corners of the carton; a I

Figure 2 is a view of a carton with cups therein similar to Figure 1 but differing from Figure 1 in that the sides of the carton have been pressed toward each other to cause the carton to assume a rectangular or square shape prior to the fastening of the ends of the carton in place;

Figure 3 is a side view of the carton containing the nested ovalcone cups packed therein as shown in Figures 1 and 2; y Y t Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken through the carton-of cups shown in Figure 3 and illustrating how the cups are depressed in the event that one set of diagonally opposite corners of the carton are pressed toward each other during the handling of the carton; and

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view similar to Figure 4 but illustrating the manner in which the cups are depressed upon the other set of diagonally opposite corners of the cups being pressed toward each other.

The nested cups 10 as best shown in Figure 5 are to be packed longitudinally in a carton 11 which may be made of any suitable material such as for example paper or cardboard. This cup as previously pointed out is of the ovalcone type, or in other words a paper cup having an oval discharge or open end and a substantially conical wall flaring upwardly from an apex to the oval open end of the cup. This paper cup is of the same general type as that disclosed in the copending patent application of Cesare Barbieri previously referred to. p

In order to pack these cups in nested form in a carton of rectangular or square cross section without substantially distorting the cup, I have found it betterpractice to dispose the nested cups in the carton While it is still in a knock-down condition as shown in Figure 1. This practice is especially desirable in that it enables the cups to he slid with facility within the confines of the vertical walls of the carton since the carton while in a knock-down condition is highly flexible and may hence be flexed to conform with the oval contour of the nested cups being inserted therein.

Another advantage of this practice resides in the fact that after the cups have been disposed within the carton the act of securing the ends of the carton in place results in the truing up of the walls of the carton and at the'same time results in the walls of the carton pressing and holding the cups with their open ends rounded to a substantially true oval form as shown in Figure 2. i

The 'end flaps 12 of the carton may be then secured in place, thus causing the carton to assume a fixed shape in which it has a square or rectangular cross section.

In packing the nested cups 11 in the knockdown carton as shown in Figure l I have found it especially advantageous to dispose the cups diagonally in the carton so that the longest transverse axis of each cup passes through diametrically opposite corners of the carton. This method of packing naturally results in the formation 01. diagonally opposite spaces 13 between the curved sides of the cups and the other set of diagonally opposite corners of the carton. (Figure '2). The curved sides of each cup 11 are designated by the reference numeral 14 and terminate at their ends the creases 15-15 of the cups are disposed in diagonally opposite corners of the carton.

When the carton has one or more of its ends secured in place, the walls of the carton are properly aligned so as to cause the carton to assume a true rectangular or square cross section and so as to at thesame time cause the sides of the carton to press against the curved sides 14 of the cups, thereby pressing and holding each of the cups with its open end rounded into a substantially true oval form as best shown in Figure 2.

If during the handling of the carton the diagonally opposite corners defining the spaces 13 are pressed toward each other, the curved sides 14 of each cup will be pressed further into the spaces 13 without resulting in the cups being damaged or distorted out 01 an oval shape.

Similarly, if the other diagonally opposite corners of the carton are pressed toward each other into contact with the side creases 15 of the cups the creased ends of the cups wil be distended into the spaces 16 between these creases in the corresponding diagonally opposlte corners, thus preventing any damage to the walls of the cups (Figure 5).

My novel method of packing cups in a carton lends itself expecially well to the packing of cups directly as they are discharged from a cup forming machine. This is made possible due to the fact that in order to dispose the cups in the carton it is not necessary to in any way manually or otherwise distort them since they may be ejected directly from the machine into the carton. The subsequent assembling of the carton into final form results in the sides of the carton exerting a slight pressure on the curved sides 01' the cups to press and hold them in such a manner that each of them has its open end distended int a substantially true oval shape.

Also it is to be noted that the cups may be inserted into the carton after it has had its bottom end closed and thus squared up as shown in Figure 2 in the following manner: a stack of nested cups such as one embodying for example 250 cups or so is slid endwise into the carton or tube while the latter is resting with its flat side on the discharge table of the cup forming machine. After the stack of tubes are started into the carton the carton is then turned so a corner of it rests on the table instead of the flat side,

thereby enabling the cups to naturally assume a cornerwise or diagonal position as they are pressed forward into the carton.

- In the appended claims I refer to the long axis of an ovalcone cup, and by that I mean the transverse axis of the cup extending through and common to both of the creases 15, or in other words the longest transverse axis of the oval shaped end of the cup.

Now I desire it understood that although I have illustrated and described in detail the preferred embodiment of this invention, the invention is not to be thus limited but only insofar as defined by the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. The method of nesting and packing paper cups of conical vertical cross section and of oval cross section into a rectangular knock-down carton body having rectangular end closure flaps, which consists in leaving the flaps open and the carton body in partially knock-down or collapsed conditions to present a comparatively long major axis and short minor axis to readily receive the oval cups directly from the forming machine in nested relation and without distortion thereof and with the major and minor axes of the cups coinciding with the major and minor axes of the collapsed carton body,- and then securing the closure flap in place to simultaneously set the carton body to rectangular form and to cause -its sides to engage the nested cups at their rim ends at points between the ends of their axes whereby to hold the cups to substantially true oval form.

2. The method of packing conical paper cups of oval cross-section in a carton of substantially square cross section which consists in inserting the cups endwise intothe carton while it is in partially collapsed condition and of substantially diamond shaped cross section and with the major and minor axes of the cups coinciding with the major and minor axes of the carton whereby the cups will readily pass into thecarton without distortion thereof, and then assembling the carton into its fixed form of square cross section and to cause its sides to engage the rim ends oi the nested cups to hold them in distended condition.

3. The method of packing conical paper cups of. oval cross-section into a knock-down carton of substantially square cross section which consists in inserting and nesting the cups in the carton while its entrance end is partially collapsed and of diamond shaped cross section to readily and freely receive the formed cups without distortion thereof and with their major and minor axes coinciding with the major and minor axes of the carton entrance, and then after the carton is filled closing the carton to its final form of square cross section with its sides engaging the rim ends of the nested cups to hold the cups in distended oval form.

ROBERT C. FENNER. 

